If I were in charge
Most morning, I usually turn on WFNZ Sports talk radio so I can get my daily sports fix. The MAC Attack is as informative as it is funny. Today, as usual they have some interesting topic which I am sure they hope will inspire callers to the station. I am not much of a radio caller, but this morning topic did prompt my post for today.
Their topic of this morning was ‘What would you change if you were in charge of your favorite sport”.
As you might have guessed running would be my sport and a couple things quickly came to mind.
If I were in charge of Track and Field, I would work with the Networks to show more coverage of the distance events. Showing just the last 2 laps of the 5000 or 10,000 events doesn’t do enough for me.
However, I am realistic so I am not expecting an end to end showing. We have all grown up accepting commercial breaks during any events that we watch on TV. I would be happy with seeing every 4th lap, 5k split and the final 4 or 5 laps. After all, I can spend 4 hours watching NASCAR and they do pretty much the same thing. They go around in circles.
The other change that I would like to see is having separate starts for women and men’s road race events. Pretty much the time has come for women to have their own race starts and not be shrouded in masses of men. Additionally, it gives women the opportunity to have their races unfold without it being unduly influence.
Now, before you blow my idea out of the water, yes, I know the logistic are probably a nightmare to do on a local level. But what if you started a 5k 10 or 15 minutes before the men’s race, it is very unlikely that any men would catch them.
I have some other things that I would like to the change, but these two came to mind first. If you were in charge, what changes would you make?
Their topic of this morning was ‘What would you change if you were in charge of your favorite sport”.
As you might have guessed running would be my sport and a couple things quickly came to mind.
If I were in charge of Track and Field, I would work with the Networks to show more coverage of the distance events. Showing just the last 2 laps of the 5000 or 10,000 events doesn’t do enough for me.
However, I am realistic so I am not expecting an end to end showing. We have all grown up accepting commercial breaks during any events that we watch on TV. I would be happy with seeing every 4th lap, 5k split and the final 4 or 5 laps. After all, I can spend 4 hours watching NASCAR and they do pretty much the same thing. They go around in circles.
The other change that I would like to see is having separate starts for women and men’s road race events. Pretty much the time has come for women to have their own race starts and not be shrouded in masses of men. Additionally, it gives women the opportunity to have their races unfold without it being unduly influence.
Now, before you blow my idea out of the water, yes, I know the logistic are probably a nightmare to do on a local level. But what if you started a 5k 10 or 15 minutes before the men’s race, it is very unlikely that any men would catch them.
I have some other things that I would like to the change, but these two came to mind first. If you were in charge, what changes would you make?
Comments
Sadly, the best way for 'distance running' specifically to gain in general popularity lies in the outlets like Flotrack and Runner's Space... eventually media will be moving more towards these niche outlets and with it will come the sponsorship money.
I can go on all day about what the USATF needs to do, unfortunately they are oblivious and continue to run the sport poorly. In the end it's a business, and until they approach the networks with a business and profit plan, no one is going to be willing to step up with major dollars.
For more on it check out:
http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/04/95/47/20090302095648%5fhttppostedfile%5fiaafdiamondleague%5fsummary%5f8970.pdf
"Rupp makes his move, now Jim Ryun is pulling up to his hip"
I wouldn't put it past those o so knowledgable guys.